Water-heater.



W. HOFFMANN.

WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION men JUNE 20. I914.

1 04,872. Patented Nbv. 14, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

W. HOFFMANN.

WATER HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED IUNEZO. I914.

Patented Nov. 14, 19111.

4 3SHEEISSHEET 2.

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WATER HEATER. APPLICATION FILED J UNEZCM \914.

1,204,872. V Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- 0% 85m" I i 722@% w, I V/ ///a m Hoff/71mm w M/l a d/0x14 a? M UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIQE.

WILLIAM I-IOFFMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR F ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM C. HARTRAY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WATER-HEATER.

Application filed June 20, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IVILLIAM HOFFMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Heaters, of which the following is a description.

My invention belongs to that general class of devices known as water heaters, and relates particularly to a gas water heater applicable for use for heating water for domestic purposes, or for use where desired.

An object of prime importance of the present invention is to provide for shortening the time required to bring the fluid in the coils to a certain temperature in order to economize in both time and fuel. Among the other objects of the present invention are the production of a simple, convenient, attractive, compact, durable, and efficient device of the kind described that may be manufactured and operated at comparatively small cost.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and com bination of parts herein shown and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In. the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my preferred form of heater; Fig. 2 is substantially a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4

is a cross sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view of the part of the periphery of the pipes in the coils facing the gas burner, showing longitudinal grooves in the pipes; Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view of one of the pipes of the coils, showing the preferred form of grooves; Fig. 9 is a side elevation of one of the baffles and oil absorbing members, and Fig. 10. is a side elevation and partial sectional view of a portion of the pilot light apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, in which the preferred form of construction and arrangement .is shown, the heater preferably consists of a casing made up of a front 1, back 2, sides 3 and 4, bottom 5 and top 6. The

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

Serial No. 846,329.

top 6 is preferably provided with openings 6 therethrough, a dome or top 7 being arranged thereover, and provided with a stack or pipe 8 having a damper9 therein. As most clearly shown in Fig. 1, the frontside 1 is provided with a door 10 secured by hinges 11, or their equivalents, to the casing. The door is maintained closed by a handle or latch 12 on one part and a cooperating part on the other. The casing may be constructed of any suitable material, sheet metal being preferred, and is provided with a lining 14 of asbestos or other heat retaining material.

The heater may be secured to the wall in any suitable manner, as, for example, by straps 15 secured to the back of the heater near the top thereof, which are arranged in the form of brackets and bent so as to space the heater from the wall. It may also be secured at the bottom to the wall, but this is not necessary. I, however, provide adjustable brackets consisting of the parts 18 and 19 at the bottom, which space the bottom of the heater from the wall and maintain it in position.

\Vater is conducted from a suitable source of supply to the heater through an intake pipe 20, and from the heater by a discharge pipe 21, which may be connected to the hot water faucets, or to a storage tank, or to both. IVithin the casing is arranged the desired number of heating coils, which are suitably connected with the intake and discharge pipes. In the preferred construction shown in the drawings, I employ three sets of similarly formed coils, which are connected by suitable pipe fittings to the pipes mentioned. Referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, a branch T 23 is secured to the pipe 20 by a suitable union or coupling 22. Secured to the T' 23 are pipes 24, 25 and 26, the pipes 24 and 26 being preferably secured to the T through a coupling or union and close fitting nipple. Pipe 25 may be extended directly into' the T, or may be connected as are the other two. At the juncture of these pipes are arranged elbows 28, to which are connected the pipes 29, these being similarly connected to other pipes, all of them constituting the heating coil or coils.

In coils constructed in the usual manner only a surface area covering about one half of the periphery of each of the pipes in the coils is subjected to the'action of the flame and heat of the burner or burners, and the responsiveness of that area is diminished by the thickness of the metal of the pipes.

The present invention provides for presenting a somewhat larger and an appreciably more responsive surface area of a given size pipe to the action of the flame and ticularly to Fig. 8, the pipe 29 has a preferably arcuate groove 29 in its underside and a similar groove on each side thereof. These three grooves course along the length of the pipes in the coil or coilsFig. 7-and increase the aggregate surface area of that part of the periphery of the pipes that faces the burner. The flame of the latter juts out into the middle groove in the pipe adjacent thereto. The slight increase in the surface area combined with the reduced thickness of the metal of the pipe conduce to intensify the action of the flame and heat on the surface area subjected thereto.

The several coils may be supported in place within the heater in any desired manner. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, a frame consisting of the part-s 33 secured together by bolts 34, maintain the several sets in operative relation, the weight of the coil being supported by the pipes 24, 25 and 26, which are carried by the casing and by the similar pipes 30 at the top. The pipes 30 extend to the exterior of the casing of the heater, and are connected to a T 31 unions 32 being employed as shown, if so desired.

For heating the fluid contained within the coils, I preferably employ a burner 43 and a burner as, it being understood that if desired, a number of burners may be employed for the purpose. These burners are suitably connected with the source of gas supply, as shown with the fuel supply pipe 38. Burner 43 is connected to a pipe 39, which is connected to a valve 40, arranged in the supply pipe. The usual air valve supply part 42 and needle valve may be employed in the usual manner. The burner 44 is similarly connected tothe supply pipe. Where two burners are employed as shown, I preferably provide one, as shown the lower one, with slots 45, or the equivalent, on the upper side, and the upper with the openings or slots 46 on the under side. This, however, is a matter of preference, and may be varied to suit the manufacturer.

For the easy lighting of the burners, as well as for maintaining'a small flame in the heater,as desired, I provide pilot lights consisting of the pipes 53 extending into the heater, preferably above the lower burner.

- These pilot pipes are provided with a slotor opening 54 for the escape of the gas. They are connected to pipe which is suitably connected to pipe 50, and through pipe 48 to the supply pipe 38. Pipes 48 and 50 are preferably connected through a coupling or union .29. and a valve 57 arranged as shown. An additional valve 55, which may be provided with operating chains 56, or the equivalent, is also provided, the same being arranged to control the passage of gas through the burner, and give either a high or low flame from the pilot lamp. provide an air inlet in the pilot system, this being shown in detail in Fig. 10. Referring to this figure, 59 is the pipe secured to 5O, which is provided with grooves 59' on the exterior, the same projecting into the pipe Arranged on pipe 52 is a member 51, which forms substantially an air and gas intake, air coming through member 51 and between the space 60, while gas enters through the pipe 59. The operation is so well known in the art thatitis unnecessary to describe the operation of the various gas controlling valves and air intakes with more detail than herein given.

its was previously mentioned, holes 6 are proiided in the top at 6. I also provide holes or air inlets 61 in the bottom 5. This is shown in detail in Fig. 6. Damper members 62 arranged on a shaft 63 extending to the exterior of the casing provided with an operating knob 64-, constitute means for closing these openings. Additional air inlets for supplying air for increasing the efficiency of the combustion may be provided, as at 65. (See Fig. 1.)

The combustion of fuel gas sets free a greasy carboniferous soot, which, in heaters of the'kind described, incrusts the pipes of the coils and causes them to resist permeability of heat. To enhance the advantage conserved by the grooving of the pipes of the coils, previously described, Iprovide means for attracting the freed greasy soot and thus lessen its deposit on the pipe surfaces to beheated. This means may be of any suitable kind and construction deemed feasible, but to serve the additional purpose of retarding the escape of the heat emitted by the burner, I employ a plurality of small porous cylinders 66, preferably made of carbon, and arrange the same in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Each of the carbon cylinders 66 is Wound with wire 67 of'suitable diameter, and is interposed between a wall of the casing 1 and a pipe of the coil, and also between the pipes of the coils, as shown. The affinity of the carbon for greasy soot attracts much of the latter, and thus prevents its deposit on the pipes. The spaces between the walls of the casing 1 and the carbon cylinders 66, made I also by the thickness of the wire 67, permits the heat to escape, but so much slower than when unimpeded by the cylinders 66. The shortening of the length of time required to bring the fluid in the coils to a given temperature due to the grooving of the pipes of the coils is thus enhanced by diminishing the deposits of greasy soot on the said pipes.

It is believed that the operation of the device will be obvious from the description heretofore given.

Either burner or both may be employed for heating, and it might be mentioned that where the pilot lights alone are burning, the efficiency of the heater is such that the pilot lights may maintain the water hot and raise the temperature to a certain eX- tent, particularly where the demands are not too great, 2". 6., a considerable amount of water required. The heater may be readily disassembled for cleaning or other purposes by disconnecting the pipes from the Ts 23 and 31. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the side a is formed in two parts consisting of l and I, part a of which may be removed by removing the screws shown. A part 3 consisting of the parts 3 and 3, part 3 of which may be similarly removed. It is then a comparatively simple matter to pull out the heating coils as a unit, and likewise detach the gas burners. This is extremely desirable since the coils and burners may always be kept clean, consequently increasing the efiiciency of the pipes, or maintaining it at high efiiciency. As before mentioned, while I have shown three sets of coils, any desired number may be employed, as may be any desired number of burners or pilot burners.

Various other changes may also be made without aifecting the efliciency of the device.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious thatvarious immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention, hence I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement or combination of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is In a water heater of the kind described and in combination, a suitable casing provided with detachable walls at each end, and with coils extending continuously there in, provided with intake and discharge pipes projecting through the side walls adjacent the bottom and top thereof respectively at the ends of said detachable walls, a gas burner disposed below the lower coil and a gas burner disposed near the center of the casing below and adjacent the coil, means for independently controlling said burners, an independent gas pipe projecting into the casing through the front side thereof near the bottom above the lower burner, and provided with independent controlling means, and means for attracting the greasy soot set free by the combustion of the gas, the pipes in said coils being constructed so that the part of the periphery facing the said burners is reduced in thickness, whereby the length of time to heat the fluid in the coils is curtailed, said casing having a plurality of openings in the underside thereof for the-admission of air, and a movable slide for controlling the size of said openings.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HOFF MANN lVitnesses Roy W. HILL, CHARLES I. COBB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). C. 

